Mattern Deli, LinX and all the other places to get a banger (and a green chorizo and longanisa and bratwurst) in your mouth

Sausage might just be the most universal meat in the world—hell, even vegans have soyrizo. And Orange County, unsurprisingly, hosts a United Nations worth of tube steaks, from the tried-and-true hot dog to South African monsters that resemble pythons ready to strike from the grill. Behold, then, 40 great places to enjoy all the chorizo, bratwurst, hot dogs, kielbasa—a veritable sausage party—you can stand to stuff down your gullet this Labor Day weekend. We've broken it up into two parts: delis and restaurants. Enjoy, and don't forget the liverwurst!

99 RANCH MARKETYou wouldn't think it, but the Chinese-centric 99 Ranch Market chain has an overwhelming selection of longanisa, the king of Filipino sausages. Pampanga and Martin Purefoods—the Hormel and Oscar Meyer of Filipino tube steaks—dominate the frozen aisle with varieties that range from a spicy longanisa to a sweet version called hamonado longanisa to a chicken variant. You can opt for skin or no skin. There's even an option for vegan Filipinos (a species of human rarer than honest politicians). And if you think the frozen section is where it ends, you're wrong: Racks of fresh Filipino sausages in just as many varieties hang near the butcher's section as well. Find your nearest location at www.99ranch.com.

COSTCOYou may not have forgiven Costco for swapping out the $1.50 Hebrew National food-court hot dogs with its Kirkland brand, but when the Aidells sampling booth shows up at the mega-warehouse, you'll miss them just a little bit less. Aidells' sausages are available at other markets, of course, but the fun is in the sampling. When the brand comes to Costco, it brings its entire roster, all of them heating in crockpots. You can even get seconds. And you'll want more of the chicken apple sausage, one of its most popular. When you get home after not being able to resist buying a year's supply, there's not much you have to do with them—they're fully cooked (though a nice sear on a griddle to burnish the casing with char will only do wonders). Find your nearest location at www.costco.com.

CORTINA'SPeople literally swoon upon eating the sandwiches at Cortina's. No, really. We've seen it happen. One that inspires such a reaction? The sausage sandwich, in which two fat, subtly spiced homemade links are split in half lengthwise, sliced, and then layered with near-liquefied sweet peppers on a pillow of bread. It's the kind of messy, overstuffed hoagie that disintegrates if you hold it wrong. You eat half, and tell yourself you'll eat the other half later, realizing only when there's nothing left but crumbs and puddles of juice and sauce that you just unknowingly ate the whole thing by yourself in one sitting. And just wait until Cortina's reopens its original Anaheim location—place has more sausages than Oktoberfest in Munich. 964 N. Batavia St., Orange, (714) 997-3663; cortinasitalianfood.com.

OCHOA'SOchoa's chorizo is nothing new to the region—for the past 35 years, the barrios of South Santa Ana have consumed with glee the green chorizo prepared by the Ochoa family, hand-cranked individually by the progeny of Aurora Ochoa. She's well into her abuelita years now, but a couple of years ago, her children decided to legitimize the family trade, found the current location and bought professional equipment to boost production. And boy, have they: Whereas the family traditionally made around 500 pounds of chorizo links per week, the current output is around 2,500 pounds per week—more than a ton. Its fame is now countywide, its devotees hipsters and wabs alike—and the family continues to churn on. 220 W. Warner Ave., Santa Ana, (714) 850-0052.

EL GAUCHO MEAT MARKETEl Gaucho Meat Market is famous around Anaheim for its Argentine restaurant, its flat-screens perpetually tuned to one soccer match or another, and its massive deli case. And if you're at an Argentine meat market, the sausage of order is the morcilla, turgid blood sausage that plumps up perfectly on the grill. But also available, playing the McCartney to the morcilla's Lennon, is the chorizo. This isn't your Mexican chorizo (and never compare an Argie to a Mexi again, carajo): This is pork at its leanest, with just the slightest bit of fat to gush out of its taut case, to make the sausage curl up ever so slightly once you're heating it up. Regardless of sausage selection, douse them in copious amounts of El Gaucho's homemade chimichurri. 847 S. State College Blvd., Anaheim, (714) 776-6400.

AFRICAN HUTOC's South African expat community is large enough that it has supported African Hut, a store specializing in South African produce, for more than a decade. It's a tiny shop, about the size of a living room, but it stocks nearly everything a South African needs to re-create home, from curries and beef jerkies right down to the tubes of Ingram's Champhor Cream for skin rashes. But what gets orders from across the country are the boerwors, spicy beef sausages that are the national meat of South Africa: perfect for grilling and stuffing into sandwiches or slicing for a scramble. It's so popular it sells them by the coiled kilo, and it has even recently introduced droerwors, the dried version of boerwors that just happens to be the best beef jerky on Earth. 27601 Forbes Rd., Laguna Niguel, (949) 582-9546; www.africanhut.com.

More than just Soyrizo for vegetarians. Tofurky makes Andouille, Spinach Pesto, Chick'n Apple as well as Brats, Kielbasa and Italian. Field Roast makes Smoked Apple Sage, Italian and Mexican Chipotle varieties. Just palatable when eaten plain but who eats sausage plain? Try the brats accompanied by sauerkraut or Italian with mozzarella and tomato sauce, no not the exact same flavor but a tasty alternative for vegetarians or those who have to limit fat and cholesterol in their diets. BTW more than one alternative chorizo as Cacique makes a soy version.